Product Kickstart
Deliverables
Agshare
Virtual Farmer’s Market
Deliverables
Ready. Set. Kickstart!
Product Kickstart�
Workshops to prepare your team for a successful product launch
3
Reduce Risks
Uncover your riskiest blind spots and create a plan to test them.
Learn From Your Users
Set yourself up to understand your users better than the competition.
Define Success
Leave no doubt about what success means for your product. Empower your team to make decisions, fast.
Find Value
Find your product’s sweet spot — the right combination of features to bring value to both your customers and business.
PROPRIETARY & CONFIDENTIAL
Product Vision
Defining Success
Product Vision, Goal Alignment, and KPIs.
Fresh, sustainable food — anytime, anywhere.
2–5 Year Product Vision
Business and Product KPIs
Goal Alignment: Defining Success
Business + Product Goals | Metrics |
Establish product viability | Positive results from the research ** |
Establish and grow our presence in multiple local communities |
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Become a recognized platform for local producer distribution |
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Build loyal customer base |
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Help small producers grow their business |
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Increase monthly revenue |
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Expand service offering |
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KPIs Over Time
Goal Alignment: Defining Success
Product Vision
The Problem Space
Personas and journey maps
Meet Your Users
Understanding your customer is critical to building a product that brings value to your customers and your organization. Here’s what we did to get to know them better:
Read [Insert Persona name] story
Read [Insert Persona name] story
Read [Insert Persona name] story
Read [Insert Persona name] story
Read [Insert Persona name] story
Customer Journey Map
The Problem Space
Customer Journey Map
The Problem Space
Product Vision
Competitor Analysis
Where your product can stand out
Key Takeaways
* Analysis based on marketing material
Competitor Analysis
Direct Competition
| Positioning | Supports farmers markets/food hubs | Pros | Cons | Pricing |
Locally Grown | Software platform for small farms | | Minimal but complete solution for setting up a virtual farmers market, supports different pricing models, somewhat customizable | Outdated UI, limited functionality, poor UX | 3% of sales |
Local Food Marketplace | Comprehensive, flexible software platform for farms and farmer markets that helps growers plan, sell, and distribute local food | ✅ | Full features, modern UI, integrations, configurable, flexible, lot of add-ons | Expensive set-up fees, especially for hobbyists/starting growers, add-ons are expensive | one-time set up + subscription |
Food4All | Software platform for growers offering free tools, technology and an online marketplace. Provides growers with everything they need to market and sell to buyers in their community | Coming soon | Free for sellers, complete sales toolkit for growers | No marketplace support yet (coming soon) | Free for sellers, buyers are paying transaction fees |
Local Line | E-commerce platform for farms | ✅ | Easy set up, multiple sales channel support, logistics management, customer support, and website builder included in price | Buyer facing UI lacks features | subscription |
Competitor Analysis
Indirect Competition
| Positioning | Pros | Cons | Pricing |
Community supported agricultures | Own share in crops | Online ordering, guaranteed share, discounts, pickup/delivery options; advance planning of crops for growers | Not knowing in advance the exact amount and kind of produce, pickup/delivery limitations | Advance purchase of crop shares |
Buying clubs | Priority access to limited produce of high quality | Online ordering, produce quality, discounts, pickup/delivery options | Limited order window, pickup/delivery limitations | Membership fees + per item pricing |
Farms directly selling online | Direct farm to table | For buyers - freshest quality produce directly from grower, no middlemen; for growers - additional sales channel, low-cost growth potential | Produce quantity and diversity, too narrow specialization, limited pickup/delivery options; the seller has to take care of logistics | Direct sale |
Meal kit subscription services (blue apron, hello fresh, etc) | Complete set of ingredients for a meal, with instructions | For buyers - convenience, variety of foods, ease of use, complete meal, low waste; for growers - predictable planning, low waste | Environmental cost of packaging, buyer is limited to suggested recipes, higher cost compared to grocery shopping | Subscription |
Grocery subscription services (imperfect foods, misfit market, etc) | Quality groceries periodically delivered to your door | For buyers - convenience, time savings, potentially cost savings; for growers - low waste | For buyers - limited customization options, potentially high waste | Subscription + add-ons |
Competitor Analysis
Product Vision
Conceptual User Experience
Prototypes
SEE THE PROTOTYPE
Visual Style
Visual Style
Product Vision
User Story Mapping
Development Planning: Looking ahead to building your product
Prioritized User Stories
By prioritizing user stories, we do the most valuable work first. We can quickly deliver, get feedback and then reprioritize the remaining work based on what you've learned
Development Planning
Product Vision
Research Planning
Testing assumptions and answering unknowns
Field Study
In a field study, we will visit the farms in a given region to observe their inventory operation, interview the owners about their current local sales and waste, and assess the technical equipment and acumen.
Research Planning
Success Metrics
Buyer Survey
We will survey 50 potential buyers from the same region as the Field Study to gauge their attitudes about buying local, food prices, sustainability and product methods, and their tolerance for pick-up.
Research Planning
Success Metrics
Buyer Survey
We will survey 50 potential buyers from the same region as the Field Study to gauge their attitudes about buying local, food prices, sustainability and product methods, and their tolerance for pick-up.
Research Planning
Success Metrics
Product Vision
Usability and Feedback
Testing our concept with real users
Goals and Methods
Usability and Feedback
Methods
Usability Study & Empathy Interview
5 “buyer” participants selected by Ag Share
Presentation of the Concept
How well do users understand how the service works, what the value proposition is for them and what would be required of them to us it?�
Information Priority�Are we presenting the right information to users to make buying decisions?�
Usability Test
What challenges do users face navigating the app and using interactive controls? What features delight them?
25%
Task Success
Identifying how Agshare works
“I see the shop Wed– Thu. I’m assuming that means that’s when you can pick it up.”
0%
Compare from long press
“I can see some of the differences, but I don’t see a way to compare.”
100%
Finding a product
“I would go right to search. That’s usually my go to”
90%
Sorting and Filtering
“It is obvious, but for whatever reason my mind was saying that that wasn’t it”
100%
Compare from links
“I’m still not sure where to tap to compare. Is it on the image or is it on the compare text?”
66%
Drilldown on Categories
“(The category selector) is obvious , but for whatever reason my mind was saying that that wasn’t it”
66%
Expanding card in product list
“I like this one in that it doesn’t take you away from the page. How do I collapse it up though?”
100%
Add multiple units to cart
“I assume if I hit add I can adjust the quantity when I get to my cart.”
Success
Usability and Feedback
Success
Success
Success
Success
Success
Success
Success
Understanding the Concept
While most users understood that the service would aggregate food products from local producers, it was less clear how the ordering and pickup would work or who the sellers would be.
Recommendation:
More explicitly state how the service works in step format.
Include the radius of seller participants and who they include.
Be more clear about AgShare’s role as an aggregator of products. Stress that food will be arranged and available for pickup nearby.
“For me it would always be price first. Then, I think it would be location. I’m probably not going to drive 5-10 miles for the cheapest milk if there’s one that’s close in price but 3 miles.”
“It says Shop Sunday through Wednesday, so I’m guessing only during those times. Shop implies different times, Browse is a little different.”
Highlight How This Helps Local Farmers
Users expressed value in the ability to buy from their local farms, but had some concern about losing the in-person experience, price markup and how much of the proceeds would go to the farms.
Recommendation:
Explain the revenue model openly to insure users understand that farmers are not paying for this.
Talk about food waste and how this service helps farms recoup losses on what otherwise would be lost product.
“I would want a section where I could find how much of the money I’m paying is going to the actual farmers themselves and how much is going to the app. What the extra fees are. I’m the type of person that would use this to see what’s available and then go to the actual farm to pay them directly.”
“I’m one of those annoying people that has to touch everything. So, I may or may not... I think I really like this for the browsing and getting some information than for shopping, because I really like the in-person experience.”
“I probably wouldn’t pay for it. And I’m not sure that I would use it if there was too much of a markup for the products.”
Production Methods are Unique
Being able to view and screen on production methods was deemed very valuable to users and a unique shopping experience that they cannot get in a supermarket.
Recommendation:
Highlight production method badges in lists and filtering mechanisms.
Prioritize this content above other content in any detail view.
“Does it tell me… some of those filters we just saw, like is it grass fed… oh, they’re down at the bottom. I would expect to find those at the top.”
“The ability to see all the process. Because when we show at a supermarket, you just see all the food and you don’t really understand the processes. I really like that approach.”
Quick Interaction Over Information Overload
Users were quick to anticipate their future experience with the app, where they have become informed of the farms and products available and would prefer a way to quickly add items to their cart.
Recommendation:
Do not require users go to a robust product detail page to add items to the cart.
Provide the product details as a secondary choice for users just getting comfortable with the app.
Present farm-specific information on a view linked to the farm name, rather than having it at the product level.
“Especially if I’ve already done my research and I know what I want, I don’t want to have to click to each (product details) to add things to my cart.”
“I guess if there was a way to click on a link to read that (From the Farmer), that might be better.”
Product Vision
Product Roadmap
Your product’s future
Now, Next, Later Roadmap
We organized work items into themes that evolve over the entire product life cycle.
The now term focuses entirely on MVP. Next focuses on feature development and enhancing Agshare’s value proposition. Later suggests directions for high potential growth.
Product Roadmap
Product Vision
Next Steps
Putting our plans into action
Product Vision
Resources
Supporting materials from the Kickstart
Resources
Miro Boards & Supporting Materials
Thank you!
Let’s make something great together. �